Camera movement along spline in Infinite Ocean 1.4

[Jim Scott]

Apply a Target Tag and Align to Spline Tag to your camera. Place a null as the target object of the Target Tag and animate its position from one object to the next to control where the camera is looking. Animate the position parameter of the Align to Spline Tag to move the camera along the spline. Animate the vertical position of the spline to have the camera skim over the surface and then rise to look down on an object. You could also animate the vertical position of the target null to control tilt if you don’t want the camera to look at the same spot on an object.

In short, animate the target null to control what the camera is looking at, and the position parameter of the spline tag as well as the position of the spline itself to control where the camera is at any particular time.

Let me know if this isn’t clear, or if you need more details.

(Using a Target Camera will automatically set up a camera and associated target null. You may also want to look into using a Motion Camera instead, which incorporates targets and paths, but it might help to get comfortable with the above set-up first.)

[Michael West]

Jim:
Thanks for the reply.
I’ll play with it tonite and get back to you if anything goes “kablooie!”
Michael

[Michael West]

Jim:
Apologies for confusion on my part.
I have been playing with this all morning and can’t seem to get it functioning.
If you would be so kind, when time permits, to do it as a “step-by-step”, e.g. 1. create a null, 2. create a camera, 3. make the camera a child of the null, etc., it will help fill in the gaps.
This is my first foray into camera movement, and even after spending time watching tutorials from YouTube, it’s just not clicking.
Thanks for your time, and your patience.
Michael

[Jim Scott]

For the purposes of these instructions I will assume that you have three objects – A, B, and C – that you wish the camera to move to, and look at in sequence, and have created a spline that you will use as the path between those objects, as well as a Camera and a Null.

1) Right click on the Camera in the Objects menu > CINEMA 4D tags > Align to Spline – click to add tag. Repeat to add a Target tag.

2) With the Align to Spline tag selected drag your spline into the “Spline Path” window.

3) With the Target tag selected drag the Null into the “Target Object” window.

4) Select the Top view to look at everything from above. Adjust the view so that you can see all of the objects and your spline.

5) Position the Null over object A. With the Align to Spline tag selected, click and drag over the arrows of the “Position” parameter and watch the Camera move from the beginning of the spline at 0%, to the end of the spline at 100%. Since the Camera is targeted to the Null you will see the Camera pivot so as to remain pointed at object A as it travels along the spline.

6) From this point on simply add keyframes for the Align to Spline tag’s “Position” parameter so as to control at what frame you wish the Camera to be in a certain position along the spline. To make the Camera linger make two identical position keyframes however many frames apart that you wish the Camera to remain at that position.

7) As the Camera moves from alongside object A to a new position alongside object B animate the position of the Null from A to B as well. You will need to create identical position keyframes for it, just like you did for the Align to Spline tag’s position, in order to determine how long the Camera looks at one object before transitioning to the next. Repeat for a Camera move to object C. Another method for similar results would be to place and keyframe objects A, B, and C into the Target Object window at appropriate times.

8) To animate the vertical position of the Camera (so as to have it look down on an object for example), animate the Y position of the spline. To have it stay low over the water at first, place an initial Y keyframe at the beginning of your timeline and an identical one at the point where you want the Camera to start rising up and looking down on object A. Place your next Y keyframe at a higher point alongside the object. You will again need to place an identical keyframe further along in time at the point where you want the Camera to leave that vantage point and start continuing along to another. (This is essentially doing the same thing as manipulating the points of the spline along the Y axis, so if you are comfortable with that go ahead and do it.) You could also animate the Y position of the target Null in order to have the Camera look up and down the object for example.

Creative use of keyframes for the Align to Spline tag, and the spline and Null will allow you to get whatever Camera moves and focus points you want.

Hope this helps.

[Michael West]

Jim:
Thanks.
Can’t wait to get home to try it out.
Michael

[Michael West]

Jim:
Played with it this morning, and got some good results.
I used a cube as the target instead of a null because, I guess, due to the massive size of Infinite Ocean (compared to a simple ‘plane’ in C4D) seeing the null was problematic.

Re: #7 above, when I move the target (null or cube) to the second object, do I animate it to match the path of the camera?
I noticed that if I move the target before the camera, it twirls the camera to follow the target (naturally)
Should I, maybe, try utilizing 3 cameras, each moving to a different object, the first camera stopping and holding at Object 1, then the second camera matching the hold position of camera 1, then starting its own journey to object 2 , and so forth for camera 3, each with its own spline and target?
Or am I overthinking it?
Thanks.
Michael

[Jim Scott]

[Michael West] “Re: #7 above, when I move the target (null or cube) to the second object, do I animate it to match the path of the camera?
I noticed that if I move the target before the camera, it twirls the camera to follow the target (naturally)
Should I, maybe, try utilizing 3 cameras, each moving to a different object, the first camera stopping and holding at Object 1, then the second camera matching the hold position of camera 1, then starting its own journey to object 2 , and so forth for camera 3, each with its own spline and target?
Or am I overthinking it?”

The camera and its target are both being animated independently, so it all depends on what you, the director, want your final shot to look like. You could have the target move to the next object before the camera starts moving again, or after, or synchronize the two. Using multiple cameras is certainly an option, especially if you want to to create cut shots from one to the next. You might want to look into using a Stage object which would allow you to set up multiple cameras and select between them at the appropriate time through keyframing. Refer to C4D’s built-in help function for further info.

My advice would be to experiment and see what works best for you.

[Michael West]

Jim:
Just did a Google search for the ‘Stage Object’ option.
Looks great! Thanks for the lead.
I’m gonna play with that for a while.
It’s more closely tied to what I do as a video editor, i.e. picking the best angle to tell the story.

I’m going to throw this out there, but no obligation to answer if you don’t know: do you know of a plugin or process that can make water run off an object like it just came from beneath the surface of a lake or ocean?

Thanks again, for your knowledge, your time, and especially your patience.
Michael

[Jim Scott]

There are several plugins that can do fluid simulations, including Real Flow (which has both standalone and plugin versions), Navié Effex, and X-Particles. Liquids are Real Flow’s tour de force, while the others are probably better suited to smoke and gaseous type effects but can do liquids if enough particles are used. It all depends on how realistic you want it to be. c4dphototools.com has some plugins for creating water drops on objects, but I don’t know if they can be animated. Do a search for “C4D fluid simulations” and you’ll find some tutorials for doing liquids without plugins, as well as links for plugins, but as is true for everything, realism isn’t cheap. Those plugins all have demo versions available, so try some out and see what works best for you.

I’m glad I could help. Have fun with your project.